Essays 2016
The second MyLife: Essay Contest invited people of all ages from around the world to submit an original essay applying a concept or idea in Chassidus to solve a contemporary life issue or challenge.
$10,000 First Place Winner
Nechama Dina Hendel, 33, Jerusalem, Israel – Topic: “SET” for Success : Life Changing Chassidic Tools
$3,600 Second Place Winner
Chaim Heber, 33, Beer Sheva, Israel – Topic: אורות בכלים – The Secret to Healthy Relationships
$1,000 Third Place Winner
Shaul Wolf, 25, Brooklyn, NY – Topic: The Soul: A Source of Inherent Self Worth
Bonus $1,000 Fourth Place Winner
Levi Liberow, 26, Brooklyn, NY – Topic: The Man of Faith is Lonely No More – Loneliness: Fate or Destiny
Top 12 Finalists:
Sholom Ber Crombi, 30, Jerusalem, Israel – הבינוני – קבלה עצמית כדרך לריפוי הנפש בעידן המודרני – The Benoni: Self-acceptance as a Way of Healing the Soul in the Modern Era
Menachem Mendel Fromer, 16, Haifa, Israel – מחשבת ההיפוך החסידית – Chassidic Thought Transformation
Yeshaya Marantz, 32, Tzfat, Israel – שמחה – עקרון הוודאות שפורץ גדר – Joy: The Principle of Certainty which Pierces Boundaries
Rikkie Winner, 21, Brooklyn, NY – Encountering You
Mishael Almalem, 38, Jerusalem, Israel – לדעת להקשיב – מהות תפקידו של המשפיע הנו להקשיב על מנת לחבור למושפע ממקומו – On Mentoring: Listening to Connect and Hearing between the Lines
Eli Soble, 40, Brooklyn, NY – The Method to Think Good So That It Will Truly Be Good
Avremel Vogel, 24, Brooklyn, NY – A Chassidic Take On “The Four Letter Word”
Shoshi Gutnick, 18, North Bondi, NSW, Australia – Conquering “I Can’t”
Rivka Ehrentrau, 60, Brooklyn, NY – מזירת הנישואין למזור של אהבה ושלימות – Man and Woman: So Different; so Perfect for Each Other
Aryeh Gurewitz, 23, Lake Worth, FL – Self-Control from the Essence of Your Soul
Adam Zagoria-Moffet, 26, Oceanside, NY – Receiver and Responder: Chassidus’ Chiddush on Care-Giving
Hadassah Silberstein, 23, Brooklyn, NY – What if I Just Don’t Care? Apathy: The Incurable Disease
Embracing Inspiration
By Levi Naparstek, Myrtle Beach, SC
The heart provides life. The mind ensures that life is sustainable. Our emotions feed our inspiration, but our thought process cements it.
Chassidus: The Ultimate Life Coach
By Moshe Feiglin, Brooklyn, NY
Three touching stories highlight the gift Chassidus Chabad provides us with- the resources to work through any difficulty, by merely applying.
Lessons from a Distracted Parent
By Bracha Turner, Los Angeles, CA
It is a shameful experience to live as a distracted parent when your kids love and forgiveness for you is their entire world. So how do you connect with the things that matter most when you have other seemingly more urgent obligations?
Reaching Beyond the Work-Life Balance
By Miriam Metzinger, Jerusalem Israel
Transcending the work-life balance involves no longer seeing aspects of life in conflict with each other, but bringing them together through viewing them as part of the same goal.
Combating Low Self Esteem with a Royal Attitude
By Yael Rosenberger, Brooklyn, NY
Keeping up with unrealistic standards of perfection and a world that doesn’t celebrate the subtleties of modesty exhausts us. So how can we foster the inner part of ourselves that is pure, untainted, yet often silent?
The Power of Inclusion
By Yonasan Beitz, Beitar Eliat, Israel
All of us have a basic desire to be included. Yet, diversity makes true unity a challenge to master. Chassidus, though, gives us the secret to inclusiveness.
Overcoming Pain of the Past
By Mali New, Brooklyn, NY
We don’t ask for pain. We prefer our own shallow versions of goodness to the greater kind masked as catastrophe. So how does one train himself to see the inherent goodness lying dormant in each challenge?
Empower by Letting Go
By Chaya Wilmowsky, Brooklyn, NY
Letting go as parents can be so healthy, because it taps in to the offspring’s inborn sense of self that is real and powerful—and deceiving.
Mind Over Matter
By Akiva Becker, Ramat Gan, Israel
No matter what roadblocks lay in one’s path of life, the way the situation is perceived will determine what outcome is generated. So how does one control what comes to mind?
The Never-Ending War
By Shmuel Kesselman, Brooklyn, NY
Why should I engage myself in a battle of self-improvement when I am told of the impossibility of total victory? What is it worth if the battle is won, but never the war?
Although I am not Jewish, I always enjoy Simon Jacobson’s material. I am terribly dismayed to see that so many people can not look past the “religion” to see the deep, complex universal teachings that are practically relevant to every human life. I have learnt so much from this amazing modern scholar!
-Ismiallh